TITLE 42
State Affairs and Government

SECTION 42-45-2

§ 42-45-2 Creation of commission 
Members. 
(a) There is hereby created within the executive department an historical
preservation and heritage commission consisting of fifteen (15) members as
follows:

(1) Ten (10) shall represent the public and shall be
appointed by the governor as herein provided. Of the ten (10) public members,
at least one shall possess the background and qualifications of an historian,
one an archaeologist, one an architect, or an architectural historian, one a
museologist, one an anthropologist, one a landscape historian or landscape
architect, and one a representative of a private nonprofit historic
preservation organization.

(2) Five (5) members shall consist of: the director of the
Rhode Island economic development corporation; the director of the department
of environmental management; the associate director of administration for
planning; the state building commissioner, and the state historic preservation
officer, each of whom shall serve as nonvoting ex-officio members.

(3) The governor shall appoint the public members of the
commission as follows: two (2) members to serve until the first day of June,
1970, three (3) members to serve until the first day of June, 1971, and four
(4) members to serve until the first day of June, 1972, and all members shall
serve until their successors are appointed and qualified.

(4) In the month of May, 1970, and in the month of May in
each year thereafter, the governor shall appoint successors to the public
members of the commission whose terms shall expire in that year, to hold office
commencing on the first day of June in the year of appointment and until the
first day of June in the third year after their respective appointments or
until their respective successors are appointed and qualified.

(5) Any vacancy of a public member which may occur in the
commission shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the remainder of
the unexpired term. All gubernatorial appointments made pursuant to this
subsection after the effective date of this act [July 15, 2005] shall
be subject to the advice and consent of the senate. No person shall be eligible
for appointment to the commission unless he or she is a resident of the state.
Each ex-officio member of the commission may designate a subordinate within his
or her department or agency to represent him or her at all meetings of the
commission. Members of the commission shall be eligible to succeed themselves.

(b) Members of the commission shall be removable by the
governor pursuant to § 36-1-7 and for cause only, and any removal solely
for partisan or personal reasons unrelated to capacity or fitness for the
office shall be unlawful.